Monday, March 21, 2011

Business Mandarin IV

It takes 10,000 hours to master a certain skillset. So if you take tuition / lesson from a teacher say, 4 hours weekly you will clock in about 200 hours a year. And if you put in 4 hours daily you will clock in another 1,500 hours perhaps. It will take you al least six years to master the language. What is the takeaway? At least you should be able to accumulate 8,000 words in your vocabulary within the first 1 to 2 years and this will let you read Chinese articles off the internet with some degree of proficiency. Below are some of the words so accumulated.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Mega Trends, Paradigm Shift

How To Master A Foreign Language In Double Quick Time ...From a global financial crisis of such proportion that the unprecedented quantitative easing merely buys us time before the next big One, to the inevitable but radical shift to a domestic consumption model by China, an economic powerhouse in its own rights ...

...these events spell one thing clearly:

CHANGE

And yet, present times also afford an excellent occasion for corporate to spot opportunities to create value and get ahead of the competition. And it's the business acumen and technical skills of key employees that will spearhead such efforts to satisfy the demands of stakeholders, create shareholder value, keep customers satisfied and employees motivated.

What better time than now to invest toward harnessing and sharpening those skills.

Why eZendir ?

eZendir is likened to peering through a kaleidoscope where combinations of variants never cease to amaze viewers ... you can seek out different patterns e.g. eZ, it stands for "easy", or merely Z for Zhong, as in Zhongguo ( China ). In fact eZendir implies that we are at the centre of the virtual universe e + Zenith + Nadir. Then there is Zen - a very Asian value system. For it reminds us that life is a journey, and happiness as our companion allowing us to encounter Quality experiences. What better option can we make? Can we co-operate to attain a win-win outcome, where happiness can be shared? With such a belief map, the team at eZendir has collaborated to arrive at a solution for the busy business executives.

For an enterprising professional to be successful, he must find the optimal balance amongst the three critical factors i.e. domain knowledge, information technology and relationship. eZendir is positioned to meet the aspirations of these individuals. We help professionals to create value by identifying the pathway to seeking opportunities. In addition, we also methodically build the pathway to make this possible. The value proposition of eZendir is to help busy professionals learn business Mandarin in the most time effective way. So, when do you embark on this program? Now! China is too costly to be ignored..

Our clear and concise methodlogy allows us to map the proficiency level of students prior to signing of the program. To be effective, students must gain the necessary skills to listen, speak, read and write. For the latter, it would mean students must also understand the grammatical structure of the Chinese language. Through a total of 6 modules, each comprising 36 hours online interaction, students can expect to increase the vocabulary base to between 3,000 and 5,000 words. In addition, we have also developed toolkit to make the learning experience one that is of quality. Our aim is , as far as possible, to provide instant gratification when the curiosity to learn the language is aroused. Through the toolkit which includes electronic word accumulator that tracks learning progress, online text-to-speech to provide an anywhere-anytime learning environment and much more; the progam seeks to provide students with the key to the code - Chinese language!

Friday, July 09, 2010

Crystal Ball Glazing - eZendir

In transforming China, policymakers are shifting away from a labor-intensive, export-oriented economic model to higher value added revenue-generating models. Consequently, wages are expected to rise ... Foreign investments are encouraged to move to sectors involving transfer of high technology ( automobile, information technology, healthcare ). With a well-educated workforce, it is par to this task and the middle class will grow, with it also domestic consumption. The push factors are higher labor costs and a huge market.To ensure a sustainable, balanced growth - and real growth, it will need to ensure that productivity gain outpaces inflation rate. Thus it must invest in education in order to nurture better managers. It will need to groom a pool of local managers that can leverage on domain knowledge, information technology and relationship skills to forge a formidable competitive strategy. It will need managers who understand the market-oriented economy where supply and demand are dictated by market forces. To gain such skills in strategy roadmappng ( competitive advantages ), understanding value creation, risk management and creating innovative products and services, it will need its managers to be bilingual in order to articulate, communicate and execute ( ACE ) in an increasing globalised eco-system.

While shifting factories further inland can mitigate escalating wage cost concerns and exchange rate issue in the short-term, real solutions must be found to achieve sustainable growth.

Since 2007, labor cost in percentage term has been climbing in the teens and this can be seen as a determined policy to transform the economy. Taking a leaf off the Singapore experience where it embarked on this course in the 80s, the transformation is real and tangible. Can this occur for China?

By focusing on education - train, train and train. Chinese managers in order to be effective need to be bilingual so that they can absorb new ideas quickly and hasten the transformation process. Foreign managers, likewise, need to learn Chinese to order to stay engage while the great shift gain momentum.

It may well be that China can reach full employment sooner than later, and in that scenario, the tipping point will be reached. A new paradigm kicks in where the only effective managers are those that are bilingual in English and Chinese - lingua francas for commerce.

Replicating the success of Singapore and India combined, China can and will leapfrog to a higher dimension - with a dynamic private sector competing domestically and internationally. The outcome is a win-win for all like-minded stakeholders.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

eZendirfor short ... We have embarked on a mission where the brand messages are clear.

Main - the most time effective and proven method to master practical business Mandarin;When - now, it is too costly to ignore China; andHow - 4 hours per week via one-to-one online interaction.

It is the belief of the collaborators that the team has the wherewithal to deliver quality value proposition, with focus on innovation, meeting the unmet needs of the market.

Although the strategy is a sound one, we need to execute the plan flawlessly. As a team, we are aligned through our belief in our core ideology and seek out win-win outcome leveraging on our core values i.e. trust, empathy, diligence and competence.

We also recognise that mastering domain knowledge and information technology is a finite process, we also challenge ourselves to embrace the third pillar of success - relationship. In this connection, we seek out mentors that can guide us through their wisdom and deep insights of the marketplace that we are operating in.

We will have to be disciplined to drive the processes to ensure that we deliver Quality.

Some of the key challenges will include:a) designing the program curriculum that will satisfy the unmet of the marketplace;b) nurturing mavens, connectors and salesmen through word-of-mouth marketing ( viral ) to reach tipping point. We shall be guided by the marketing adage: six degree of separation in order to penetrate the market as quickly as possible.

As in all execution issues, co-ordination is key to success and we will install the relevant project management tools to map the timeline and track key milestones.

A good start will reinforce the trust factor so crucial for successful collaboration - Bon Voyage ~ eZendir!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Rainbow And Colour of It All! Be Happy

Chasing rainbow and hoping to find a pot of gold at the end of it ...so romantic, so enticing...When we were more youthful and hopeful, we must have been memerised by such thoughts.

What is it that we are chasing? Riches or happiness. Will we be happy when we attain material wealth? Maybe .... perhaps not. So if we pursue happiness, if ever that is achievable, do we need material wealth? Taking a step back, we need to ask ourselves what is happiness? What does it mean to be happy?

We need to remember that life is a journey, and happiness our companion. What better option can we make? We can liken happiness to a transaction where we experience for a fleeting moment of ~ truth. In a transaction, we come into contact with a stimulus and how we response defines whether the experience is quality ( happiness ) or otherwise.

How is it that we feel more often than not that life remains unfulfilled? Could be that we lack quality experiences. Maybe it is the lack of empathy that prevents us from such experiences.

First movers fear it is against their interest to initiate a discussion and the end result is that we miss an opportunity to co-operate. This can be categorised as a co-ordination issue. When there is a break-down in co-ordination, there will be no meaningful progress, and any underlying issue will be allowed to fester and there would be risk of a disorderly outcome. The likely scenario is a stimulus that is likely to attract a zero-sum gain, a positive response at the expense of someone's negative response. Is it possible to have a win-win outcome, where happiness can be shared? Can people really sit down and negotiate according to a set of rules , unwritten but underpinned by a set of common beliefs. If no, why not? Again it is back to the coordination issue .... what is the driver when a certain course of action is selected? More often than not, we use price as the basis to find the equilibrium between supply and demand. We may have taken the short-term view that the best result will come .... from everyone in the group doing what is best for himself . However, John Nash has added a caveat "and the group". According to him, " if we go for the best ( by definition scarce )... we block each other. Not a single one of us is gonna get it. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because nobody likes to be second choice. Well, what if none goes for the best? We don't get in each other's way, and we don't insult the others. That's the only way we win. "The following questions can help us understand better what is preventing us from feeling happy?

a)when you are NOT achieving what you set out to do, would you feel upset?

b)can you work around the setback and find an acceptable alternative?

c) why is it so important to achieve your goal?

Goal setting is process-driven and you need to understand what are the steps you require to take to reach from here to there. Too often, we make quick and unsubstantiated assumptions, and as a result we are not able to get to our goal. There is no short cut and when you analyse your mis-steps you will realise what are the stimuli that trigger the negative response.

Dealing with human emotion is one of the most challenging and difficult tasks. There are myriad of moving components at play and we cannot control the outcome as interests are not completely aligned. Again we can identify the stimuli that trigger the negative response.

So fundamentally, we need to identify like-minded people with shared values to begin with. So how can we convince people that cooperation is better than competition?

When it comes to co-operation, we need to think big but act in baby steps. This helps to breakdown complex issues into simpler elements. We need to underpin the efficacy of our assumptions and execute the steps in logical sequence. Every successful step reinforces trust and with trust it is possible to overcome the coordination issue. Once collaborators are comfortable and confident that cooperation can result in a win-win outcome, the end-to-end processes can then take on a life of its own with its own ecosystem of checks and balances - and we can sit back and enjoy the ride and have happiness as our companion.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Portfolio Tracking II

This post is a follow up of the earlier post dated Feb 11 2008 entitled Portfolio Tracking ... We have updated our tracking engine and have set the following conditions as well as make some observations:

Conditions:1) tracked the performance of stocks /ETFs for comparable periods from April 2004 through March 2010,2) selected those that have generated average return in excess of 15% p.a. or with Sharpe ratio above 0.4 ( risk free set at 3% ), and3) ranked them according to average return.

Observations:1) based on an equal weighting of amount invested per period ( annual ), it is possible to surmise that an investor can achieve a reasonable return on a "buy-and-hold" basis,2) such counters exhibit high betas ( ranging from 1.3 to 2.0 ) with the exception of XOM ( 0.5 ) and HPQ ( 1.0 ),3) such counters also are quite correlated to S&P 500,3) they are mostly "growth" stocks / asset classes i.e. emerging markets, linked to emerging market growth stories ( US Exporters, commodities etc ),4) include technology stocks with great innovation ( AAPL ), and 5) these counter also suffered significant dips during 2008/2009 but rebounded strongly subsequently.

If these counters maintain their sound fundamentals there is no reason that they cannot outperform the market.

The trick is to stay focus and follow the simple rule of ensuring that the portfolio is re-balanced periodically by taking profits off the table and topping losses where necessary.

Disclaimer: The site provider and or the contributor of this post do not warrant the accuracy / completeness of the information contained herein, disclaim all liability and shall not be responsible for any losses arising fron the use of the content herein.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Inno-cation and Quality Part V - Emotion, Rational and Moral

Angst, provocation, passion are elements of emotion ... without these, what will life be? Want and desire are essential to change. Emotion serves as the stimulus in uncovering your unmet needs ... and change comes about when your unmet needs are been fulfilled.

Unique idea that appeals to your emotion is a powerful connector. Art, as a media, helps to manifest that emotion. Yet emotion, left unchecked, can have bad consequences. It may degenerate and lead to an obsession or worse to an addiction.

Innovation which has been defined as something new and fulfilling the unmet needs, possesses an element of provocation to trigger and or entice a response. Hence coining the term "innocation".

Artists seek inspiration by understanding humanity through painting of nude or near-nude portraits which evoke unfiltered emotion. Go to any art gallery and you are likely to sample such works. Fire up your imagination, these works sure do!After triggering the response, your brain very quickly internalise these signals, bringing you to reality by matching up to your set of value system.

This process of rationalisation allows you to judge whether the experience is of quality in accordance to your beliefs. As your values evolve, you may be more concerned with the dynamic aspect of quality that these experiences evoke.

Finally, society plays an important role in imparting moral values and hence regulating behaviour and setting norms. Society can only progress if it is willing to allow emancipation of the collective thoughts of its citizens. Presently emerging economies e.g. China, India, Brazil etc are at the cross-road of change. They seek to reinvent in order to attain the next level of economic development.

The question is whether society can learn lessons from history, avoid repeating past mistakes and make progress for the good of its people?

Similarly, organisations face similar challenges. They need to balance control and empowerment. Having shared values and common ideology help to solve a myriad of challenges faced by these entities.

Critical Success Factors

It essentially boils down to sharing reward. Here, we take a leaf from the proponents of Game Theory. First, one must work for the common good of the group so that the outcome is optimal to that group. Next, there must be an equitable way to distribute the profit. The goal is to encourage the heavers, while at the same time do not give slackers any chance to demoralise the group.

It will be interesting to see how many groups are perfecting the art of Game Theory that benefits the collaborators.

Selfish behaviour is the root cause for the break-down of the group!

In summary, to be successful in innovation,you need:a) the right core ideology i.e. values like courage, confidence and conviction,b) the right people onboard,c) coaching tool that would objectively measures value drivers, helping manage the resources more productively,andd) provide proper rewards and incentives.

Strong leadership anchored with the right value system and driven by a simple easy-to-follow common ideology is the way forward ...

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Innovation Through The Lens of Art Part IV - 勿以恶小而为之, 勿以善小而不为

Society can either opt to stand still or seek to change for the better through innovation. The choice is clear. The question is where do we seek inspiration to change for the better? Art...for it " removes irrelevant concepts from people's minds, encourages the living. It provides confidence to people. It does not deal out dreams. It does not teach. It awakens. " Art in its more controversial forms need not titillate our senses to extremity, but to awaken us to the beauty of living reality instead, and not merely indulge in empty idealism. [ paraphrase Mao Yuhui ]. Therefore, artists and intellectuals play a key role in fermenting innovation and creativity. Their works play a pivotal role in defining individual expression first and foremost before propagating to all and sundry.

Examples abound of the pioneering spirit that is within us. Controversial mural in airport depicting naked tribal women bathing in celebration of a water festivity is but one such example. To revive ( nourish ) an instinct that resides in the deep recess of our brains, we need to up the "degree of empowerment" by many notches.

So is innovation more art than science? The short answer being, art is the foundation and science its fittings.

We need to accentuate the human-ness in us in order to satisfy our ever evolving needs. We must uncover the building blocks that permit us to realise the potential in us, generate the momentum that will nurture our fertile imagination and turn it into functional forms.

We ought to have the discipline to apply our mind to the task on hand for after all, famous artists do not become top guns merely putting a few splashes here and there. It is a practised hand that makes it looks so easy and graceful - such artful manifestation awakens us, the audience and finally as participants, to the possibilities rather than dealing out our dreams.

Through empowerment, we seek out partners to collaborate with, and assemble the building blocks to competently realise our potential in coming up with outstanding pieces of work, in the true commercial sense exploit it and turn it into money spinners.

The discipline comes in figuring out the end goal. And to develop a framework in how to reach that end goal. Take learning Chinese language as an example. How many of you desire to master the Chinese language ( putonghua ). What are the milestones you set for yourself to reach that goal. Typically it is to increase the vocabulary i.e. 2,000 words, 6,000 words or 40,000 words! How much investment are you prepared to put in to realise that goal ( and of course under what time frame? ) and what do you expect to get in return ( e.g. return on invested capital ). There are many paths to reach that goal. If it is too rigid and unrealistic, you will find the going tough or next to impossible. However, if you do think it through and create a framework to undertake the journey, the execution will be extremely smooth.

So you can either set the goals yourself or let the teacher sets the goals for you.You need to feel comfortable that your teacher empathises with your situation as well for you to take ownership of the approach adopted.

Often times, people end up making decisions without understanding the whole picture.This is because we are used to making decisions without the benefit of complete information and guess what is the result? You either are lucky to get the result you want; or fall short of your expectation and allow someone to exploit that vulnerability to your detriment.

Back to the workplace. There are situations where organisations prefer to only want order takers. They will use enforcers to get the job done. As a contributor and empowered with choices, you can ensure that your set of beliefs is in alignment with those that you are collaborating with thereby avoiding a scenario where you may be exploited on. To benefit from the environment that promotes harmony, creativity and innovation, you must also be an active participant. Proper value system is a vital element and in large organisations it is rather difficult to establish common values and beliefs. When collaborators are at cross-purposes, negatives cancel out positives resulting is dismal return on investment. Be mindful of the adage: 勿以恶小而为之, 勿以善小而不为. Putting it to practice, is more art than science. Relationship is so fragile that you can liken it to a mirror reflecting exactly the energy it receives. It gives as much as it takes. To enjoy what we strive most for, one must take the initiative in nurturing and nourishing LIFE values i.e. EMPATHY, TRUST, FAIRNESS, APPRECIATION, RELIABILITY.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Innovation Process Part III - Unmet Needs and Marketplace

Two key ingredients must be satisfied in the innovation process. The solution must be new and solve a problem for the end users. In taking a macro view, we hope to seek out market place where unmet needs await the entrepreneurs.The global financial crisis provides China the opportunity to be the main locomotive in driving the global economy back to stability. Its massive economic stimulus package had the intended effect. However it is also clear that the root causes remain embedded within the present global economic system and such instability must be resolved for growth to be back on track.

China requires a sustainable growth rate of 8% annually and has relied on the export model. This cannot carry on indefinitely as the US over-spent consumers have severely depleted their wealth. China as well as other economies with similar model, will need to look from within via increase in domestic consumption, presently at 35% of its GDP ( versus US 75% ) to make up for this gap.

The export model leveraging on labour- and resource-intensive processes has its limit and has created issues with regards to structural balances, coordination and sustainability. At the advent of the crisis, 20 millions migrant workers were laid off or facing layoffs. Their return to their villages could potentially destabilize the political and economic order with dire consequences.

Turning the crisis into opportunity, China initiated an economic stimulus package in excess of US$ 500 billion, jump starting the process of increasing domestic consumption. Subsidies were extended to villagers to buy white appliances, affordable housing and tax reliefs for car purchases. These help to keep the factories running and workers gainfully employed, as well as hoisting the standard of living. China’s 3 key sectors i.e.. agricultural, manufacturing and services in that order, will be the focal point in upgrading its manufacturing base technologically. By raising the standard of living, the emphasis has shifted from merely having adequate clothing and food, to providing affordable housing and transportation. In a sense, the new dawn of lifestyle living has arrived.

China in developing its western provinces which in percentage term can grow in the mid-teens thus compensating for the lower growth rate expected for the more matured coastal areas and special economic zones. The successful implementation of these initiatives will raise standard of living and purchasing power, empowering China to facilitate the trade flow further. Collaboration with foreign entities, and in particular MNCs will come naturally and it can be a win-win outcome. As China seeks to raise productivity level, the service sector is a good area to target as funds will be set aside to upgrade the labour force through vocational training and such other means. During the transition, it is not unusual to meet resistance as labour-intensive model has worked so well thus far. Courage and leadership are required for wisdom to prevail over vested interest to bring about change, and for China to fulfill its vision for its people.